Yemisi Izuora
Nigeria’s worsening insecurity has been traced to being responsible for the country’s high inflation rate.
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele said this at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee, MPC of the Bank meeting in Abuja.
The worsening economic situation has driven Nigeria’s inflation to 17.33 per cent in February 2021 despite monetary intervention to contain the rates.
The National Bureau of Statistics while disclosing this stated that the February increase is the 18th consecutive rise since September 2019.
Over the past three months, Nigeria’s inflation had risen by 17.33 per cent, 16.47 per cent, 15.75 per cent
But speaking on the issues fuelling inflationary threat, Emefiele said that the insecurity in the country has affected the food producing region in the country thus causing farmers to abandon their farms.
Apart from the level of insecurity, he also said the increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit caused by the deregulation of the petroluem sector as well as the devaluation of the Naira have all compounded the inflation situation in the country.
According to him, “Worsening security situations has caused higher inflation which has affected the food producing areas and has limited the expected outcomes to the market.
“The hike in PMS, upward adjustment in electricity tarrrif and naira depreciation also fueled inflationary pressures.”
The Governor said the committee urged the government to step up it’s security strategies in curbing the rising threat to the country’s security.
However, he said the MPC expressed satisfaction on the bank’s intervention to boost food production through agricultural programmes.